Wyoming Summer 2011

My Family...can you see yourself?

 

Brendan

 

Lane

 

Many faces of Kaitlyn

 

Summer 2011

Tom's vacation July 18 - August 4...MY Vacation July 18 - August 24!!!! LUCKY ME Tom and I were finally able to take a vacation together! It's been 3 years since we were able to get out "West" to see my family. Tom had never even met our granddaughter Kaitlyn! He sure has missed out! We headed out on July 18. I was trying to buy multiple trips as we were coming home at different times and from different airports. Well...it ended up that we didn't even get to fly together from Dallas to Denver. I messed up and had Tom on one flight to Denver and me on another one that left almost 3 hours later. Needless to say we each got to wait at an airport for 3 hours without the other. Not a fun thing! I'd found out that it was way cheaper to fly and rent a car by going to Denver, so our plans were to go to WY to Aaron and Cara's house, spend a week then head to Utah for about 10 days, Tom fly home from Denver and me going back to WY for another 3 weeks and flying home from Rapid City. We were able to spend a bit of time with Adam in Ft. Collins. We met him for breakfast the morning of the 19th before we headed north to Rozet. It was great getting to see Adam, even for only a short while. I can't even remember the last time w'd seen him. Thank goodness he is so good at calling weekly and seeing how we are doing! He is a handsome and hardworking young man! I love him dearly! We found our way to Rozet without any problems. Just the usual summer road construction, which is a pain the the butt! Oh how much fun it is to drive out in the wide open spaces. I miss that so much! My greatest fear had happened, Kaitlyn didn't remember me, even though I'd seen her at Grandma Binder's funeral the end of May. My how a few months makes everything different! She went from an outgoing child, going to everyone..to an little one who only wanted her MaMa, DaDa, or Brollers. In the week that we were there, she finally started coming around a bit more. I am so thankful that I got the chance to go back to WY for another 3 weeks! She definately didn't like her Papa Tom, we never could figure out if it is his beard? Or what? She let him hold her for only very short moments. And I didn't fare much better. She'd let me hold her IF I was taking her to a family member. Aaron was busy at work as they were busy trying to get his plant ready to go online, so we didn't get to see much of him. But we had a great time with Cara, Lane, Brendan and Kaitlyn. It was fun being back at the horse ranch and seeing all the horses and other critters. Tom still doesn't like the cats, imagine that?! We got to take Lane and Brendan to the National High School Rodeo which was held in Gillette, WY...It was a great rodeo. That is until a bull rider got trampled. We never did find out what damage he sustained. I hope and pray he was ok.

We got to take Lane with us to Utah! I was so excited that he wanted to go with us. Brendan was going to Washington State with his dad for a week. So Cara only had Kaitlyn around for awhile. Bet that was different! We headed to Vernal on July 25th, spending the rest of our time at my parents house. All my siblings were there for the weekend of the 30th. It was so wonderful to get to have them all together for a few days. I'm so thankful for wonderful parents who let us all come home again. It sure makes alot of work for them, but they never complain! They are wonderful and amazing parents! Thanks Mom and Dad! This is all those who were there: My parents (Vernal), Tom, me (Georgia) Lane (Wyoming and Florida) Jason (Wallasburg, Utah) - Jani and Chuck (Elko, Nevada) - Doug and Cindy (Mesquite, Nevada) - Blaine, Margie, Kreg, Kaitlyn, Kaycee, Krista, Kaden (Vernal) - Kim, Lianne, Kam (Vernal) Ryan, Sheasha, Anna, Hayden (Dinosaur, Colorado) - Rick, Bett, Mallory, Miranda, Gavin (Salt Lake City, Utah). And guess what? we didn't even have a fight! Amazing what 30-40 years does for a family with 6 children!

I also got to spend a few hours with my dear friend Velma. It is so wonderful to have a friend that is always there, even when you don't see them for 3 years! What a wonderful time we had in Vernal. We didn't even actually "DO" much. Just sitting around and talking is all I want to do when I go home. Sometimes I think that drives Tom crazy?! We did take Lane over to the Family History Center where my parents volunteer. We spend a couple hours on the computer showing Lane his "Family". I taught him how to fill out a pedigree chart. Showed him how far the family tree went back. Then we actually went online and read about the famous people we are related to. I think Lane enjoyed it? I gave him the assignment of taking his pedigree chart home to Florida and have his mom help him fill out her side of the family. On Monday, August 1 we(Tom, I and Lane) drove to Heber to have dinner with Tom's cousin Lisa and her hubby John. Jason also came to dinner with us. We had a fun evening just visiting and getting to know each other. Tom headed back to Denver on Aug. 3, he didn't have any problems finding his hotel or getting the rental car turned in before his flight home on the 4th. My parents took Lane and I back to Rozet on the 4th. We had a great drive, Dad wouldn't let me help him drive, imagine that? We met Aaron, Cara, Brendan, and Kaitlyn at a restaurant in Gillette that night for dinner. They spent the night and headed back to Vernal the next morning. I wish they could have stayed a bit longer, but am thankful that they'd take the time and money to take Lane and I back to Wyoming. Brendan's birthday was Aug. 7th. Cara had a fun day planned for him, only problem was that he was sick and it all had to be cancelled. We did go out to dinner for his birthday and then went back to the house for cake and ice cream. His Papa(Cara's Dad) was also with us. So I had 3 weeks to convince Kaitlyn that she needed to be my friend! Did it work? OF COURSE! Especially if I had something she was interested in..like my Droid X or my nook color. She was changing before my eyes. Each day she learned new words and actions. She went from throwing her cup (cause she wanted juice) to handing it to me or sitting it on the floor and asking "PEASE" She even went potty on the toilet for her "BROLLERS". She learned to say "Lane" but Brendan is a bit harder, she'd try to say it every once in awhile. Tom and I did Skype one day. Kaitlyn was amazed that she could see him and he MOVED!!!! She decided she actually liked her Papa Tom and she calls him PACA. Then she figured out that she could see his photo on my phone so Every day a dozen times a day she'd grab my phone and want to call PACA. And when my phone would ring, she'd run to get it, calling PACA!!! It was so cute. She learned how to turn on my phone, call PACA and hang up (sometimes before were ready to hang up) I know...I'm going on about Kaitlyn....Lane and Brendan were there too. And I did give them some attention. They are such good boys, never fight, always doing whatever they can to help their Mom with Kaitlyn, even changing poopy diapers! They were also busy watering the animals inside and out. Very busy boys. We did make time to watch a few movies though! I cherish the time that I got to spend with them. Cara and Aaron are amazing, I'm so surprised that they would actually LET me stay an extra 3 weeks. Thank you Aaron and Cara, I enjoyed my extended vacation. Unfortunately, I had to fly home on Aug. 24th. It was a sad/happy day. I hate goodbyes! As my family knows, I am very good at crying. I was sad to have to leave them behind, but happy to know that Tom would be there at the airport to pick me up and take me home. I mentioned earlier about my handsome son Adam. Well, my other 2 sons are very handsome also. It is amazing what kind of men my 3 sons have turned into. They are each still their own self. But they love their Mom an Step-dad, and I am so thankful for that. My family is so important to me. I thank God every day for each and every one of them. I so wish we were closer. Tom is counting the days until he can retire again. We are hoping to move out west somewhere to be a bit closer. BUT that also leaves out half of our family because all of Tom's family lives in New England. His son in Tennessee and his daughter in Arkansas. We do love the times we get to spend with Tom's family. We will just have to figure that all out when we move again.

Headed to Wyoming

I'm headed to Wyoming on Saturday. I've been fretting about the flight for a month now. I'd tried to find airports that may be ok even though it's still winter time up north. I fly into Chicago then to Denver then finally to Rapid City. I sure hope the weather holds, the flights are on time and there are no unruly passengers! Tom is staying home to hold down the fort and keep the paychecks coming in. I sure hope he'll be ok for a month. It's really strange....I'm excited to go see family and to meet our new granddaughter, but at the same time...sad that I'll be away from Tom for a month. I guess that's what they call mixed emotions? Anyways, I'm hoping we'll both survive the time apart. This will be the first time since we got married that we'll be apart for this length of time. Wish us luck!

Hope all is well in your little corner of the world!
Michele

A week in our life!

This week our 2 adopted grand daughters have birthdays! I don't know where the time has flown, thats for sure. Today is Clarissa's birthday and she is FOUR! Abby's birthday is Thursday and she'll be THREE! It is so amazing to me that these little girls are 3 & 4 this year. It must have been just yesterday that Clarissa was turning ONE and Abby wasn't even born yet. I know I just blinked my eyes and 3 years have passed. Seems that all our grandsons have had this same thing happen to them. One minute they were little bitty tikes and now they are Handsome Young Men. All 8 of them! Our little Kaitlyn Rose is also growing. Her mom reported that she has graduated from preemie clothes to 1-3 month clothes. I'm getting antsy to go see Kaitlyn and be her nanny for a month! It's a sad time...hard to leave Tom behind for a month, but exciting to go see the new baby and spend time with Aaron's family.

We got to tell Abby and Clarissa Happy Birthday on the phone today! Thanks Angie for calling! We love and miss you all very much!

New Baby!!!! A Grand DAUGHTER!!!!

This morning at Midnight our little Kaitlyn Rose entered the world. She weighed in at 5 pounds 13 ounces and is 18 inches long. Proud parents are Aaron & Cara and the proud brothers are Lane & Brendan. It's at times like this that it is SO hard being SO far away. It will be hard waiting until the end of February to see her! Thank goodness for instant photos sent hundreds of miles in a few seconds!

We are so excited for the new addition to our family!!! Thank goodness we have experience with our 2 adopted grand daughters, Clarissa and Abby...or we wouldn't know what to do with a GIRL... after FOUR grandsons, this will be an interesting and fun change.

What have we been doing?

It's been quite a while since I posted anything. I don't know where this year has gone! This time last year we were in Michigan busy packing up our house for a hopeful job and move to Georgia. Today I'm finishing up the inside Christmas decorations. We got to have Lane come visit for a few days before Thanksgiving. We celebrated his birthday a few days late. It was pretty nasty weather most of the time that Lane was here. We got lots of computer time in, of course. We went shopping and played ball in the front yard. In October we got to have friends from Michigan come spend a few days with us. Thanks for coming Gena & Phil. Then the next weekend we got a surprise visit from John, Sue, Julia, Lily & Shaun. They stopped for a sleep over on their way to Disney World, then on their way back we met them for dinner. It was great!

The weather in Georgia has been crazy lately,from very chilly to kinda warm, sunny to lots of rain. I've never lived anywhere where you may have the heat on in the morning and the air conditioner on in the afternoon.

We both stay busy with our church callings. Tom stays busier than he'd like to be at work and our lives go on.

How are you?
Michele